A WHIRLWIND three months could end with the biggest prize of them all for Wauchope greyhound Bago Bye Bye in Melbourne on Saturday.
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Fresh from winning the Christchurch Casino Cup on November 15, the three-year-old will line up in the second-biggest greyhound race in the country.
He won one of eight qualifying heats for the race in a blistering time of 29.56 seconds which was the quickest of the night.
Should he win on Saturday at The Meadows, a pay packet of $250,000 awaits.
Co-owner Greg Watts was looking forward to going "down there and we'll try and match it with the big boys".
"I've been on a high since last Saturday and I don't do drugs," Watts said.
"It's been a massive buzz; I didn't know how big (qualifying for the Australian Cup) was."
Watts said a Hastings dog had never won the New Zealand-Australian Cup double.
"The well-wishes I've had is unheard of," he said.
"To go down there and match it with the big boys … it's never been done by anyone from around here."
He will have his work cut out having been selected to jump from box four at Monday's box draw.
"He's drawn a bad box, but you can't do anything about that," Watts said.
"We'll play it by ear and it's up to the dog now."
The co-owner was hopeful he would have at least "another six to 12 months out of him" before he retired.
"If he's lucky enough to win it I've got two studs chasing me wanting his services if he can win on Saturday night," he said.
"He's just been injury-prone and it's only the good dogs that break down, but he's had a lot of niggling injuries.
"He's back now and he's sound."
The Australian Cup will jump at 9.30pm on Saturday night and will be shown on Sky Racing.
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